SpaceX Falcon Heavy : Arabsat 6A : LC-39A : April 11, 2019 - DISCUSSION

[envy887]

that means that if SpaceX has the built, landed and tested boosters 'in storage' then they could conceivably mate those two side cores to the new center core (we know that the center core is a special build) and launch before STP 2

If you mean the two side boosters from the first FH, those were making their second flights. Can they fly a third time?

No. The next FH will be all Block 5. But the side boosters could be converted flight-proven Block 5 F9 boosters.

[mazen hesham]

Arabsat 6A now NET November 2018 per Ben Cooper.

The Falcon Heavy is scheduled to make its second flight from pad 39A carrying the
Arabsat 6A communication satellite as early as November.

http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html

[russianhalo117]

Arabsat 6A now NET November 2018 per Ben Cooper.

The Falcon Heavy is scheduled to make its second flight from pad 39A carrying the
Arabsat 6A communication satellite as early as November.

http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html

conflicts with the flow for the new DM-1 Target date. i doubt that they will have 2 launches in November from 39A. I'm sticking with Q1 2019 for this launch unless they are ready by December. FH hardware is not at 39A yet to support an FH launch in half a month and DM-1 has the end of the month now. December 2018 or January 2019 is more likely.

[IntoTheVoid]

FH hardware is not at 39A yet to support an FH launch in half a month and DM-1 has the end of the month now. December 2018 or January 2019 is more likely.

"half a month" ? Did you lose October somewhere?

[russianhalo117]

FH hardware is not at 39A yet to support an FH launch in half a month and DM-1 has the end of the month now. December 2018 or January 2019 is more likely.

"half a month" ? Did you lose October somewhere?

yep.

[quagmire]

Arabsat 6A now NET November 2018 per Ben Cooper.

The Falcon Heavy is scheduled to make its second flight from pad 39A carrying the
Arabsat 6A communication satellite as early as November.

http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html

conflicts with the flow for the new DM-1 Target date. i doubt that they will have 2 launches in November from 39A. I'm sticking with Q1 2019 for this launch unless they are ready by December. FH hardware is not at 39A yet to support an FH launch in half a month and DM-1 has the end of the month now. December 2018 or January 2019 is more likely.

Why not? It's been stated somewhere that changing between FH and F9 doesn't take too long. Now I do see DM-1 taking priority over Arabsat if planning slips.

[Alexphysics]

Arabsat 6A now NET November 2018 per Ben Cooper.

The Falcon Heavy is scheduled to make its second flight from pad 39A carrying the
Arabsat 6A communication satellite as early as November.

http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html

conflicts with the flow for the new DM-1 Target date. i doubt that they will have 2 launches in November from 39A. I'm sticking with Q1 2019 for this launch unless they are ready by December. FH hardware is not at 39A yet to support an FH launch in half a month and DM-1 has the end of the month now. December 2018 or January 2019 is more likely.

Why not? It's been stated somewhere that changing between FH and F9 doesn't take too long. Now I do see DM-1 taking priority over Arabsat if planning slips.

I'd see the November date just as a placeholder for planning purposes and it's realistically December-January, pretty much like when they were working towards a DM-1 launch in August, that was just for planning purposes. DM-1 will come first and then Arabsat

[russianhalo117]

Arabsat 6A now NET November 2018 per Ben Cooper.

The Falcon Heavy is scheduled to make its second flight from pad 39A carrying the
Arabsat 6A communication satellite as early as November.

http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html

conflicts with the flow for the new DM-1 Target date. i doubt that they will have 2 launches in November from 39A. I'm sticking with Q1 2019 for this launch unless they are ready by December. FH hardware is not at 39A yet to support an FH launch in half a month and DM-1 has the end of the month now. December 2018 or January 2019 is more likely.

Why not? It's been stated somewhere that changing between FH and F9 doesn't take too long. Now I do see DM-1 taking priority over Arabsat if planning slips.

DM-1 might have a slightly longer campaign than a normal flight because of the particular rocket flying and the first flight of a Dragon v2..

[cscott]

DM-1 might have a slightly longer campaign than a normal flight because of the particular rocket flying and the first flight of a Dragon v2..

First reused block 5?  Also, first "human-rated" COPVs?

(I'd expect the former to be more relevant than the latter, but maybe I'm wrong.)

[tleski]

The first block 5 reused was B1046 (Merah Putih).

[gongora]

DM-1 might have a slightly longer campaign than a normal flight because of the particular rocket flying and the first flight of a Dragon v2..

First reused block 5?  Also, first "human-rated" COPVs?

(I'd expect the former to be more relevant than the latter, but maybe I'm wrong.)

DM-1 is a new booster.  I'd expect it to take extra time just because it's part of the certification process for flying human rated missions.  It will be interesting to see how the schedules for these two flights interact.  Hopefully they don't both slip the same amount.

[Nehkara]

This Falcon Heavy side booster was seen today in Maricopa, Arizona:



Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/9vwp7j/is_this_a_booster_i_saw_it_in_maricopa_az/

It's likely that this booster will be part of the FH that will fly Arabsat 6A.

[Chris Bergin]

Falcon Heavy side booster spotted on the test stand at McGregor. More photos in L2, but adding one here for a flow update.

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1063998180776394752

[gongora]

NASA looking to launch delayed space science missions in early 2019

Fox said the mission [STP-2] will launch on the second of two back-to-back launches of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, after the launch of the Arabsat-6A spacecraft. “It will launch after the successful launch of Arabsat, which is currently manifested for March,” she said.

The two launches, she said, will use the same set of first stage booster cores. “They will recover and reuse the boosters,” she said, with the second launch taking place about a month after the first.

[ZachS09]

Will the FH side boosters from this mission onwards have black nose cones?

Or will they stay with the white ones?

[scr00chy]

Will the FH side boosters from this mission onwards have black nose cones?

Or will they stay with the white ones?

Photos of the side booster from McGregor show a white nosecone.

[russianhalo117]

Will the FH side boosters from this mission onwards have black nose cones?

Or will they stay with the white ones?

Only need for black TPS is ASDS landing along extreme trajectory. Only white nosecines are planned so far because peak heating will be low enough.

[su27k]

NASA looking to launch delayed space science missions in early 2019

Fox said the mission [STP-2] will launch on the second of two back-to-back launches of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, after the launch of the Arabsat-6A spacecraft. “It will launch after the successful launch of Arabsat, which is currently manifested for March,” she said.

The two launches, she said, will use the same set of first stage booster cores. “They will recover and reuse the boosters,” she said, with the second launch taking place about a month after the first.

It's strange that a commercial satellite launches on the first use of a booster and government satellites launch on the 2nd use of the booster, usually it's the reverse...

[rpapo]

It's strange that a commercial satellite launches on the first use of a booster and government satellites launch on the 2nd use of the booster, usually it's the reverse...

It nothing more than mirrors the relationship that SpaceX has with commercial versus government entities, as opposed to how all the other major players behave.

[deruch]

It's strange that a commercial satellite launches on the first use of a booster and government satellites launch on the 2nd use of the booster, usually it's the reverse...

It nothing more than mirrors the relationship that SpaceX has with commercial versus government entities, as opposed to how all the other major players behave.

Or it's just a quirk of the current scheduling.  At one time, STP-2 was scheduled to launch before Arabsat-6A and if that were still the case, I would guess that we would have seen a pair of launches where the govt. payload got the new boosters and the commercial one used flight-proven ones.